A bitter argument Tuesday morning over process brought into sharp relief the fractures that have been splintering the Yellowstone County Commission over the last several months.
The three commissioners found no common ground on which to move forward during their meeting regarding the two groups with plans for privatizing management at MetraPark.
The flashpoint was a proposed public comment period that would allow county residents, Metra vendors and the various organizations using MetraPark to speak on the management privatization proposals submitted by ASM Global and OVG.Â
"I'm not sure why this is on our agenda," said Commissioner Don Jones. "We need to continue on with this process. We've had plenty of public hearings. We need to finish the process."Â
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The public comment period was proposed by Commissioner John Ostlund, who has opposed Jones' maneuvering since November when Jones first proposed exploring the privatization option. Jones accused Ostlund Tuesday of wanting another public comment session just to slow the process down.Â
Ostlund pushed back saying the public deserves the opportunity to weigh in on the various steps, including commenting on OVG's and ASM's proposals.
"We've said over and over that we would keep this process open and transparent," Ostlund said.Â
In the end, the motion to hold the public comment period next week for the proposals failed after Ostlund was the only one to vote for it.Â
The next issue commissioners tackled was whether to start the negotiating process with ASM Global. ASM was recommended earlier this month by the county's evaluation committee in a unanimous decision as the best choice for handling management at MetraPark.
Jones told commissioners that moving forward to begin negotiations with ASM was the next step in the process laid out in the county's request for information and qualifications.
As that point got debated, Jones drew audible gasps from the lightly attended meeting when he pointedly criticized the county's director of finance and budget.
Earlier this month, Kevan Bryan presented the committee's findings that ASM was the committee's top pick and then followed it up with his recommendations as finance director.
He told commissioners it made more sense to put off the privatization question for three years given the booking contract the county signed last year with OVG. Trying to use two different companies for management and booking didn't make financial sense and likely would mean the county would end up paying twice for some services, he told them.
Jones said Bryan went well beyond his duties as finance director when he made those recommendations.Â
"He was totally out of line. He was reckless," Jones said, drawing surprised reactions from some in the room.
Earlier in the year, Jones had praised Bryan's competency, saying he needed to be part of the negotiations.
Jones then suggested Bryan was maybe colluding with Ostlund to derail the process.
"It's almost like you guys are working together," Jones said.Â
"I'm not trying to stop this process, I'm just trying to have a process," Ostlund responded.Â
Commissioners then debated what negotiations with ASM would look like. Ostlund argued that a committee needed to be comprised of the county's finance and legal teams along with outside experts.
Commissioners had earlier agreed that the private consulting group Venue Solutions Group, which has already done work for the county, should be involved.Â
Ostlund's biggest hang up seemed to be the county's already established relationship with OVG.Â
Jones first struck on the idea of investigating privatized management last fall after visiting with officials in Casper, Wyoming, and Nampa, Idaho, two communities that have publicly-owned, privately-run arenas or events centers. Both are now operated by OVG.
A negotiating committee with just the commissioners could give the appearance of bias, he said.Â
Jones pointed out that as earlier decided Venue Solutions Group would assist with negotiations. But in the end, Jones was the only one who voted to take the next step and begin negotiations with ASM. The motion failed 1-2.Â
Commissioner Denis Pitman worked throughout the meeting to propose a third way to move the process forward. Three times, Pitman proposed that the county push the next step back to June and invite both ASM and OVG to sit down with commissioners to figure out which company would best fit Metra.
He compared it to bringing in the top job applicants to interview for a job, saying they could figure it out through interviews and discussion.Â
Ultimately he was unable to persuade Jones or Ostlund to his idea.
"The next step is to talk to the highest qualified," Jones said.
With the failed vote to move forward with negotiations, it's unclear what the next step will be as commissioners grapple with Metra's future management.Â
Further muddying the waters is the master plan process the county started two years ago that was to dictate how Metra would operate and look for the next 50 years.Â
Less than a year ago, the county unveiled its publicity campaign to get the public involved with envisioning the next iteration of MetraPark. It was an ambitious plan to redesign, overhaul and build new amenities that would secure the event space for the next half century. It would likely carry a hefty price tag that would have required the county to seek millions of dollars in bonds through a vote with county residents.Â
The plan appears to be dead now.
There's been little talk over the last few months of the master plan, and the acrimony that's colored the discussions of exploring management privatization at MetraPark this year seems to have overshadowed the optimism county officials felt last summer.Â